Chapter 3

Infiltration Begin

Jeremiah is currently pinned down to the ground by a large mass of fur using his sword to keep its jaws from munching on him while simultaneously barely keeping its huge claws at bay. The sword glows and they're both suddenly on the other side of the core. Jeremiah thinks, "Oh crap." His legs start glowing as he delivers a high-powered kick a bit under its chest knocking it away from him on the side they were just on. His legs stop glowing; he gets up but the only thing keeping him going at that point is the adrenaline coursing through his veins. He is very exhausted from his long-winded fight.

"Haaah…haah…You seem more reasonable than the other shadows. Can't we take a break and talk it out?" reasons Jeremiah.

Its reply was a lunging slash attack. Jeremiah steps back but trips on his own feet making him fall down. It goes for another slash with its claws. Jeremiah's sword glows again and he teleports face-first into the border hitting it hard. He falls down to the ground landing on his back.

"You have got to be kidding me!" yells Jeremiah.

Claws come down towards him before he can say anything else. Rolling out of the way in an effort to avoid the claws, once he's out of danger, he attempts to get up but his arms were failing him, the adrenaline slowly wearing off. The mass of fur towers over him, putting one of its claws under his throat, looking at him with its jade eyes, and states, "You know I always hated this form."

Meanwhile at the former Agency's ship bay we find our current crew consisting of Nic, Tech Boy, and Tech Girl landing their cloaked stealth ships. They hop out of their ships and start conversing amongst each other.

"Operation: Infiltration is a go," states Tech Boy.

"I personally like Operation: Spy & Seek better," comments Nic.

Tech Girl intervenes, "You two can argue about names later. Right now we need to get into our disguises."

Nic put on a very raggedy crab costume while Tech Boy and Tech Girl just got out a marker and drew shadow markings on their faces. While neither of these disguises seem very clever this does end up being the next topic of conversation between the three.

"Isn't your disguise kind of lazy?" inquires Nic.

Tech Boy answers, "Don't worry about it. We got a plan to make it work. But what about you? A human sized crab? That's hardly believable. Plus, your costume is in terrible condition."

Nic counters, "I'll have you know the guy at the costume shop said it was in great condition when I bought it."

"You should ask for a refund then," states Tech Boy before Tech Girl intervenes once more, "Enough you two. I'm sure he has his reasons for picking that particular costume but I will make one small modification to it."

She uncapped the marker once more and drew shadow markings on Nic's costume. She explains, "Since all of Darkness's best minions have shadow markings on them it would be best to make sure they're included. The sudden absence of them could trigger some red flags."

Tech Boy comments sarcastically, "Now we just got to hope that they're all a bunch of idiots."

"Let's just go!" half-yells Tech Girl tired of dealing with this already.

They went into the hallway which was mostly intact except for a few holes and cracks that were made during the Battle of the Agency. The lights were out making traversal of it on the eerie side. They turn the corner and continue downward. When they got to the fork in the hall, they stop.

Tech Boy whispers to Nic, "You might want to get into position. The fact that there's so few minions here right now must mean they're eating. Considering the time, they're most likely in the Lunch Restaurant assuming they're following the Agency's ways of eating meals which is highly doubtful."

Tech Girl quietly adds in, "Most likely, they're gathered up in the Dinner Diner as the location of it would yield minimal damage during the Battle of the Agency."

TB added on, "Just to be safe, you should check all three and take this."

Tech Boy grabs his shoulder and places a tracker on him. "If anything happens, press it twice and it will send out an S.O.S. signal."

Nic salutes and crab walks toward the restaurants. Tech Girl whispers to TB, "Good idea with the tracker but what if one of Darkness's minions finds it?"

"It should potentially strengthen his alibi. Now come on, we got work to do," states Tech Boy before going over to Head Spikey's former office. Tech Girl follows.

Upon reaching the front door, they each got on a side and took defensive positions. They look at each other and nod as Tech Boy pulls out a high-tech black glowstick from his utility belt and presses a button on it. It starts to glow right before he taps his fake shadow marking with it. The shadow marking glows for a few seconds before stopping and he hands it to Tech Girl who repeated the process. Once they were done and made sure that the glowstick was turned off and back on one of their utility belts they entered the office.

Upon entry, they notice a giant drill above the floor being controlled by none other than Bowser Jr., a small green turtle like creature with a spiked shell. Behind him was Darkness himself who was personally overseeing the operation.

"We should be ready to start soon Master Darkness," states Bowser Jr.

"Good, you can go on to lunch while I talk to the two behind me."

Bowser Jr. salutes and leaves the room. Darkness moves right in front of them, towering over them, demanding, "What are you two doing here? I don't remember corrupting you back at the Battle of the Agency."

They gulp doing their best not to cower in fear. This wasn't their first encounter with Darkness, but this was the first time they were face-to-face with him. Doing his absolute best to show no signs of fear or weakness Tech Boy kneels down and speaks, "Master Darkness, me and my sister have seen the shadows. During the last battle, some of the shadow energy got on our platforms and got us but alas there was a delayed reaction for reasons we do not know."

Tech Girl follows her brother's example and continues, "We apologize for not knowing the reason for the delay, but we have come to realize that we have been fighting on the wrong side this entire time. We humbly request to join the ranks of your army."

Darkness ponders this for a moment thinking about whether or not to trust them. He then replies, "Very well, but you will be under Bowser Jr.'s supervision until I state otherwise. Is that understood?"

They get up, salute, and say in unison, "Yes, sir."

"You two will refer to me as Master Darkness from now on. Come with me, I do not trust you alone with any of the equipment here," states Darkness before he heads out of the room.

TB and TG follow him. They end up in the Breakfast Café after all and see Nic next to Herbert unscathed. No one had taken notice of his terrible choice in costume. In the very back they notice Tiffany who had already finished her meal. Darkness went up to the counter and announces, "Everyone, your attention please!"

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at Darkness along with his two new recruits.

"These two are Tech Boy and Tech Girl, prince and princess of Planet Gaxi. They have decided to join our army out of their own free will."

Everyone began cheering except for Tiffany.

"For now, they will be working as Bowser Jr.'s assistants while I confirm whether or not their home planet is aware of their own betrayal. If they weren't abdicated of their positions, we could use Planet Gaxi's army in addition to our current forces. However, we will worry about that later. That is all I would like to announce."

He left the counter and went over to Bowser Jr. instructing him quietly in passing, "Keep them in your sight." He passes Bowser Jr. and goes to Tiffany. "Tiffany, a word," says Darkness gesturing out of the Breakfast Café. They leave the Breakfast Café and go out of earshot turning a corner to the hallway that leads to the ruins of the courtyard. Darkness states, "I do not trust these new recruits one bit, that's where you come in. Keep an eye on them and if need be, eliminate them." Tiffany responds, "Yes, Master Darkness. I obey your every command."